Queensland Railways 1300 class


The 1300 class were a class of diesel locomotive built by English Electric, Rocklea for Queensland Rail between 1967 and 1972. They were later sold to AN Tasrail.

History

The 1300 class was an upgraded version of the 1270 class with more powerful engines and larger fuel tanks.
The class was primarily used on the Blackwater and Moura coal lines and based at Gladstone. The class became surplus following electrification of the coal lines in 1986-1987.
In 1988 the entire class was sold to AN Tasrail where they became the ZC class. They were renumbered consecutively, 1300 becoming ZC1 and 1344 becoming ZC45, although 12 units were only used as a source of spare parts. Most had very short working lives with just 13 remaining in service by 1995 and only six by 1997.
Ten of the ZC class were sold to Morrison-Knudsen Australia in April 1994, with eight rebuilt with new cabs as the MKA class at its Whyalla factory. Two were operated on the BHP Whyalla Steelworks network from February 1995, before being exported to Senegal. MKA1-4 saw service in Malaysia before returning to Australia. These along with the unused two were purchased by Pacific National in 2004 with MKA1-3 returning to Queensland and the others to Tasmania. By 2007, all six were in service in Tasmania renumbered in the 2130 series.
2137 near Cornelian Bay in August 2013
With the privatisation of Australian National, AN Tasrail was sold to the Australian Transport Network, with the seven remaining ZCs becoming the 2140 class. Most stored units were scrapped and the last was withdrawn in 2004. In February 2004 Pacific National purchased Australian Transport Network, including four stored 2140 class locomotives. Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia purchased 2142 and 2143 for a proposed tourist service, they were later sold to Senegal. In September 2009 TasRail was sold back to the Government of Tasmania. TasRail sold three of the remaining stored locos for scrap in 2012 and donated 2144 to Diesel Traction Tasmania, now known as Launceston & North East Railway, for preservation.

Fleet summary

QR numberSerial
number		In serviceWithdrawn by QRANR numberMKA numberATN/PN/TasRail numberWithdrawnScrappedNotes
1300A.16209 10 196703 11 1988ZC1
1301A.16301 11 196702 08 1988
1302A.164
1303A.162
1304A.168ZC5
1305A.170ZC6
1306A.172ZC7
1307A.175ZC8
1308A.176ZC92140
1309A.177ZC10
1310A.181ZC112141
1311A.183
1312A.185ZC13
1313A.188ZC14
1314A.189ZC15
1315A.192ZC16
1316A.195ZC172142
1317A.1982143
1318A.201ZC192144To Diesel Traction Tasmania.
1319A.200ZC202145
1320A.208ZC21MKA42134
1321A.209ZC22MKA6Exported to Senegal.
1322A.210
1323A.211ZC24
1324A.212
1325A.213ZC26MKA32133
1326A.214ZC27MKA72137
1327A.215ZC28
1328A.216ZC29
1329A.217MKA22132
1330A.223ZC31MKA82138
1331A.224ZC32
1332A.225MKA12131
1333A.226ZC34
1334A.227ZC35
1335A.228
1336A.229ZC37
1337A.230ZC38
1338A.231ZC39
1339A.233
1340A.234ZC41MKA5Exported to Senegal.
1341A.235ZC422146
1342A.245ZC43
1343A.246ZC44
1344A.247ZC45